Post-Modernism in American Literature

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Post-Modernism in American Literature

• English III

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All the time periods

• Puritanism
• Rationalism/Enlightenment
• Romanticism (Gothic)
• Transcentalism
• Realism
• Naturalism
• Modernism
• Harlem Renaissance
• Postmodernism

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Postmodernism What is it?

• This period began after WWII and overlaps in time
  with Modernism
• Its very similar in its themes and forms to
  Modernism, except it seems to celebrate
  insanity, or the idea that there are no
  universal truths, more than Modernism.
• One of the main ideas in Post-Modernism is the
  death of the subject, the idea that when I say
  I, there really is no I, only a bunch of
  societal brainwashing, of images and words that I
  group together under the heading of I.

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What do Modernist and Post-Modernist Writing
Share in Common?

• Fragmentation in plot, characters, theme,
  images, and overall storyline.
• Loss is a huge theme in modernist works.
• The destruction of the family unit.
• Characters may be given little or no physical
  description, and one or more characters is
  usually an "outcast."
• Authority figures are often untrustworthy,
  reflecting the question of truth.
• Movement away from religion.
• The reversal of traditional roles

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What do Modernism and Post-Modernism Share in
Common, continued?

• Ambiguous ending
• Often setting is more than just the setting or,
  maybe there is no setting at all.
• The use of improper grammar to reflect dialect.
• More sexuality shown in a blatant way
• intertextuality is emphasized the idea that any
  understanding of a text is shaped by other
  textskind of like sampling in rap music
• More use of the first person narrative,
  reflecting the lack of universal truth, i.e.
  there are only individual truths.

6
What was going on during the years of
Post-Modernism?

• WWII ended in 1945
• Cold War with U.S. Russia begins in 1949
• 1950s society splits between conservative,
  family oriented values, versus those left out of
  the American Dream, as seen in the Civil Rights
  Movement, Beat Poets, Unions, etc.
• A rise in technology computers introduced in the
  1960s now a daily part of life

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Cultural Changes in Post Modern times

• Often called The Information Age, where so much
  new information is coming at us that humans find
  it hard to adapt
• The culture of this time period is called
  Consumer Society, since our economys success
  is founded on an ever expanding appetite for, and
  consumption of, material goods. We define
  ourselves by our brands.

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What else during this time period?

• 1960s-70s Vietnam War
• 1970s Nixon resigns in disgrace
• 1979 Hostage Crisis with Iran
• 1980s Berlin wall taken down, end of Cold War
• 1990s Rise of Terrorism and rise of
  Islamophobia

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Two Postmodernist Writers

• Two writers who exemplify this time period are
  Robert Heinlein and Sylvia Plath Heinlein is a
  science fiction writer and Plath a poet. They
  represent some of the major ideas and styles of
  Post-Modernism.